PINCUSHIONS
This is a little post about pincushions before I get back to needlebooks (promise!).
A few of you have been waiting patiently for me to post my pincushions, and I have been going through the boxes for them. As they come to light, I am photographing them.
However, I do try to stay with a theme, this time "Bears". .....a little too soon after the Black Forest Bears post you may say, but it is only a few. There are some other animals, too.
Going by other blogs, there are a very large number of us who adore pincushions both vintage and new. The number of patterns available is amazing - and I would believe this "craze" has been carried down through the years. Many of the vintage magazines and needlework books carried patterns for pincushions of all types. If you do start collecting pincushions, there are many to choose from.....you might even pick a theme and just collect those - well, bears, of course, cats, dogs, or animals in general, shoes, figures, metal, china, handmade, made in Japan, just to give you a small sample. Also, many pincushions are multi-purpose, i.e. - they might include tape measures, thimble holders, needle holders, scissor holders, etc.
Below - from new to old, (I had to put in a Black Forest Bear!)
The bear on the left is so cute, the bear itself was made in China and the extras added to it by "Settler Design" - Melbourne, Australia. This was a recent purchase from a Melbourne craft show. I am not sure how old the "BF" bear is but probably from around the 30's - 40's.
A few of you have been waiting patiently for me to post my pincushions, and I have been going through the boxes for them. As they come to light, I am photographing them.
However, I do try to stay with a theme, this time "Bears". .....a little too soon after the Black Forest Bears post you may say, but it is only a few. There are some other animals, too.
Going by other blogs, there are a very large number of us who adore pincushions both vintage and new. The number of patterns available is amazing - and I would believe this "craze" has been carried down through the years. Many of the vintage magazines and needlework books carried patterns for pincushions of all types. If you do start collecting pincushions, there are many to choose from.....you might even pick a theme and just collect those - well, bears, of course, cats, dogs, or animals in general, shoes, figures, metal, china, handmade, made in Japan, just to give you a small sample. Also, many pincushions are multi-purpose, i.e. - they might include tape measures, thimble holders, needle holders, scissor holders, etc.
Below - from new to old, (I had to put in a Black Forest Bear!)
The bear on the left is so cute, the bear itself was made in China and the extras added to it by "Settler Design" - Melbourne, Australia. This was a recent purchase from a Melbourne craft show. I am not sure how old the "BF" bear is but probably from around the 30's - 40's.
Below - these three bears (made in Japan), are also tape measures (pull their tongue) and I had always questioned whether they were bears until I found the two dogs in the picture following this one. There is a little china bear in front with the top of his head being the pincushion (poor thing!). The bear in the little case is just being cute.
Dog pincushions function also as tape measures, made in Japan.
Cat (or is it a bear?), Dog, and Elephant sitting atop of pincushions. These are also tape measures - just pull their tail. These are made in Japan probably 50's - 60's.
Sorry for the poor picture - it isn't easy getting the detail on these metal bears, but they do look much better in person. These were purchased about five years ago - no makers name but probably made in China.
For those who don't know about it, there is a yahoo group "crazyaboutpincushions" where you will find all sorts of pincushion info and links. If you love pincushions, become a member and you will find a wonderful group of fellow pincushion lovers, plus lots of patterns, photos, etc.Back to needlebooks next time, and there will be more pincushions when the series of needlebooks is complete.
2 comments:
You know, my mother has one somewhere that is in a seashell.
I am going to go look for it right now. I'll post a pic if I find it!
Great Jane, hope to see it soon!
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